Visited over the weekend, (long post):
New Development
Phase one of the development should have opened last summer, however they are running behind schedule as the pillars of the current bridge around tiger territory had to be replaced before work on the new bridge could begin. They are tentatively hoping for the development to open over the Easter holidays, however, it is possible it could be postponed until the summer. The new bridge needs surfacing but work has stopped at the minute due to protected birds taking up residence in the wetlands. The hyenas are a breeding pair, I am unsure of their origin but they have settled in fairly well and should be an interesting addition when the expansion opens.
Lions
Ares and Julie have been outside together for the past three weeks, the keepers are tentatively hopeful that this will be a permanent solution for both to have access to an outdoor enclosure without the need for a timeshare. They are not currently being housed together indoors or overnight, the lion house can be split into five individual houses allowing for Carla and Crystal, Simba and Maria and Ares and Julie to be housed apart. The two did display the expected aggression typically observed when introducing animals, however no serious injuries occurred. One major incident occurred when Julie attempted to steal Ares food after working out that he got bigger portions, the resulting fight left Ares with a black eye but he gave as good as he got. The two seem to tolerate each other and hopefully their relationship will grow once Julie goes into season. Maria is currently in season and Simba has been taking advantage of this.
Giraffes
As the younger boys have been getting older there is the possibility that they will challenge Behansin for dominance. Apparently he is not a great dominant male as he fails to put the others in their place.
Rhinos
Makibo and Najuma have been introduced through the fence and reactions have been positive, they hope to introduce the two in the spring as they seem to enjoy each others company. They will keep Najuma away from Jasper who they worry will become agitated when Najuma is ready to breed as he is a proven breeding male. Keepers are hopeful for babies in the future, the house can be split into six individual enclosures and there are three outdoor enclosures.
Leopards, Tigers and Painted Dogs
They are currently waiting for a recommendation from the studbook to breed the Leopards and Tigers. Drake and Freya (Leopards) are regularly swapped between the two enclosures, and Vlad is moved between Sayan and Tschuna (Tigers), he seems to get along a bit better with Sayan as he and Tschuna seem to be fairly standoffish. The Rukuni pack (Painted Dogs) have split yet again, originally, three animals splintered off from the main pack leaving two packs consisting of three and seven animals, one of the seven has now joined the three leaving a pack of six and a pack of four. It is unclear what the long term plans are for these animals as originally the three were going to be moved on to a new collection, however, they appear to be managing successfully as they have three enclosures (grassland, woodland and an off-show enclosure) to move them between.
Polar Bears
With the current wet weather one of the enclosures has become too waterlogged for the bears to be put out in as there is a risk to their feet so they have had to implement a 'dry dock' plan. It is currently breeding season and Nobby has reached maturity, he no longer wants to be with Victor and has become aggressive, he has also gone off his food. He has had fights with both Victor and Nissan so they have been separated, he has some wounds to the back of his neck. Pixel and Nissan are sill together and become distressed when separated. Dry dock plan means either Victor, Nobby, or Pixel and Nissan have to be shut indoors whilst the others have access outdoors. Hopefully when the breeding season is finished the tension will diffuse and they will be able to be mixed again. Because Victor is on his own he has begun to display a head rolling behaviour. The most likely to breed in the future is Nobby as his father(?) was born in the wild.
Rasputin will spend four months in quarantine in the old brown bear enclosure, the keepers will observe his behaviour to determine who he will best fit with and will either move him across to project polar or potentially move one of the others over to him. He seems to have settled in fairly well but does pace quite frequently, this behaviour developed in France as a result of being separated from Flocke, he also tends to go off his food when separated so keepers in France overfed him prior to the move, the keepers are working on getting his weight down. Moving Rasputin to YWP was in the works for a while but the actual move was sped up due to concerns over delays due to Brexit uncertainty. Rasputin did not react well to the change in elevation, in France he was above the visitors due to the design of the enclosure whereas he is now below them. They are open to taking on Flocke but at the discretion of the studbook, at the moment they understand that they will likely have Rasputin for a few years but he could be moved back to breed again with Flocke or elsewhere if another female is suggested as a potential mate.
Other
Okapi were both inside, escaping from the weather, the new house seems a lot better than the old and the viewing windows offer a nice opportunity to view the animals indoors. On previous visits I have seen the tigers chasing them up and down the fence. The otters are getting on well, hopefully they will mate successfully in the future. Did not see many of the new additions; Roloways, Howlers and Sakis were all inside and the indoor viewing for the Roloways is still cordoned off, but did see the armadillo. A tree came down in Lemur Wood during the extreme weather of the past few weeks, thankfully no escapes but there is still concern for the Lemurs and Warty Pigs. They are holding two squirrel monkeys in quarantine before they are moved overseas, their move was delayed by Brexit, they were having problems with the monkeys biting visitors which is why they have moved out of squirrel monkeys and acquired the Sakis. The coatis were moved to Fife, many zoos are moving their coatis here with the intention of setting up a single, non-breeding, population. They are open to housing most animals but the one they refuse to take is elephants, due to both the spatial requirements and the current commission which is investigating elephants in UK zoos, they don't want to invest in elephants and then be told they have to get rid of them in x amount of years.
(Apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes, this was a rushed post)
